Grad Students at Kroc and in Rome Meet via Videoconference

Master’s students from the Kroc Institute and graduate students from four universities in Rome met “face to face” for class on Nov. 9 in a live videoconference to discuss how to engage religious communities more effectively in U.S. foreign policy.

The videoconference was hosted and organized by the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See (the Holy See is the universal government of the Catholic Church, which operates from the Vatican) and included Claudio Betti, a well-regarded peace mediator and director of special operations of the Community of Sant’Egidio in Rome.

The graduate students on the Notre Dame side of the videoconference, representing 12 countries, are enrolled the “Peacebuilding and Public Policy” class taught by Gerard Powers, professor of the practice of Catholic peacebuilding at the Kroc Institute. In Rome, graduate students representing 8 countries are students at the Pontifical Gregorian University, the Pontifical Oriental Institute, the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, and Seraphicum Pontifical University.

To prepare for the event, students read the report “Engaging Religious Communities Abroad: A New Imperative for U.S. Foreign Policy.” The report is a product of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs’ Task Force on Religion and the Making of U.S. Foreign Policy, which was co-chaired by Kroc Institute director Scott Appleby.